Kerala high court may hold key to compensation to Air India Express crash victims

Mangalore: The compensation issue to the passengers who perished in the horrific air crash of Dubai Mangalore Air India IX 812 has reached a flash point. There is one case of compensation which holds the key in the suit filed in Kerala high court in Ernakulum. This case has been filed by the Mangalore crash victims’ family association for Abdul Salam who lost his son in the crash.
The hearing has been completed and has been posted for judgment at least two months before the court closed for vacation on April 20, 2011. But a judge, who was to deliver the judgment, had abstained from giving the judgment following which the Kerala high court had assigned the case to another judge.The new judge has also had two rounds of hearing and has posted it for judgment after the vacation without specifying the date.
The court will open on May 22 (incidentally on the same date one year after the crash) and the association is trying to secure the judgment on the same day.
“This judgment will be a path-breaking event; it may set precedence for all further compensation issues in IX 812 crash case. Abdul Salam had been offered a compensation of ¤35 lakh by the Air India which he rejected on the advice of the association, on the basis of Montreal convention,” said association vice-president Varadarajan.
The association was finding it difficult to engage advocates who are knowledgeable with the Montreal convention, carriage by air act and other nuances of the air crash compensation procedure.
19/05/11 M Raghuram/Daily News & Analysis

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